Open Comments, hosted by The Open Group
Welcome to Open Comments hosted by The Open Group
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The podcasts feature subject matter experts and panels including industry leaders, and The Open Group staff.
Season 3 premiering from January 2026 onwards.
Host: Ash – CDMP – Certified Copywriter (CMP) – CDMA – Certified Proofreader
and Editor (CMP) – Certified Business Writer (CMP), Content Marketing Manager,
joined The Open Group in 2020, initially working in the Certification Team as a Certification Services Agent, before moving into the Marketing Team, where he now works on marketing collateral, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and produces/hosts The Open Group, Open Comments Podcast.
Disclaimer: The Open Comments Podcast (hosted by The Open Group) is presented purely for informational and educational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by the hosts and the guests are their own and are not intended to harm or offend any group, organization, company, individual, anyone, or anything.
Open Comments, hosted by The Open Group
Open Comments: S3 Ep.2 - The Power of Digital Art and Education with Stef Buzatu
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Digital artist and educator Stef Buzatu takes us on a fascinating journey through the evolving landscape of digital media, creativity, and art education. Originally from Romania, Stef shares how her path led from handcrafted projects to becoming Course Director for Digital Media at Coventry University, where she's been nurturing creative minds for nearly a decade.
With remarkable candor, Stef reveals her creative process using Adobe After Effects for digital collages while exploring newer technologies like Touch Designer for interactive visuals. Her thoughtful approach to balancing creative work with teaching offers valuable insights for anyone juggling passion projects with professional responsibilities. "The only people who will remember how much you worked are your friends and family," she reflects, emphasizing the importance of sustainable creative practice.
The conversation delves into AI's transformative impact on digital art, with Stef offering a nuanced perspective that acknowledges both possibilities and limitations. Rather than seeing AI as a threat to creativity, she frames it as "a tool that's only as good as the person using it," highlighting how human direction remains essential even as technology advances.
Perhaps most compelling are Stef's insights into education and student engagement. She shares inventive strategies for helping students connect and build confidence, while adapting to post-pandemic communication preferences. Her advice for emerging creatives—"Don't panic" and "Do something first, make it good later"—cuts through the noise with refreshing clarity and wisdom gained from years of experience.
From explorative discussions about NFTs and digital ownership to predictions about art's immersive future, this episode offers a treasure trove of insights for creators, educators, and technology enthusiasts alike. Join us for this thought-provoking exploration of how art, technology, and education continue to evolve and intersect in unexpected ways.
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Introduction to Steph Buzatu
Speaker 1Welcome back to Open Comments with me, ash. In today's episode we'll be talking to Steph Buzatu, digital artist and course director for digital media at Coventry University. Thank you so much, steph, for joining us today on Open Comments. Please can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 2Thank you for inviting me, ash. It's really sweet to be here. I'm very happy that I'm a digital artist. I'm originally from Romania. I moved in the UK in 2010 to do my studies at Caviuni. I studied media production and then, when I graduated, I went into the digital side of art and I also started working for Caviuni as something called the skills instructor, which was basically a technician, and after that I really enjoyed my job, so I continued doing it and now I'm a course. I'm the course director for a course called digital media, also at Cove Uni.
Speaker 1That's great, and can you tell us a little bit about where your journey with creativity started?
Speaker 2I think I was slightly creative my entire life, so I found myself doing little things like collages or sort of handmade jewellery. So I've always had some sort of aspect creative aspect to my life. And then when I had to go to university, I basically decided that I'm going to do media production, and that's when everything sort of blew up, so to say.
Speaker 1And what tools or software would you say are essential to your own creative process? But also, maybe, those around you that you have worked with and they've, you know, taught you different things, and software that they've used and that you've taken on yourself as well?
Speaker 2So my favorite software is something from Adobe and it's called Adobe After Effects and it's basically a software that allows you to do motion graphics, titles, any sort of special effects. I personally use it for digital collages mainly. I do have other uses for it as well. I tend to use it in mixture with also Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. So the nice thing about the Adobe software is that they kind of talk to each other. So the nice thing about the Adobe software is that they kind of talk to each other.
Speaker 2So, for example, if I have my layers in Photoshop, then I can just bring them into After Effects and all of my layers are still there, exactly as I edited them in Photoshop. So that's something quite, quite nice about the Adobe software. I've also started getting a little bit into a software called touch designer and this is more for, like um, live production. I would say so. Imagine, I don't know, uh, using sound to sort of drive the visuals that are happening, or using um, uh sensors that allow you to to see where someone is in space and, based on that, have something happening on the screen, if that makes sense and continue on with your career journey so far.
Speaker 1How would you say you balance your time and energy between creating and educating?
Speaker 2uh, not great. So honestly, it's usually one or the other. So I tend to I do say no to lots of projects outside of my full-time job. So being an educator is my full-time job. If I, if I'm being offered any sort of projects when I have a busy period at university, then I'm gonna have to say no. So I find myself creating much more around the university holidays or whenever there's a bit more quiet periods. I will say something that has stuck to me with me. Sorry is that the only people who will remember how much you worked are your friends and family. So I try to take that to heart and I try to not overwork myself and would you say you are led by passion in what you do?
Speaker 1I mean, it's very clear to speak to you just now about how passionate you are about what you do, but do you think there's also that balance of you know, balance of creativity, balance of your own self and what you do, but also keeping that time for yourself and just you know, not only helping to you know, help others learn through what you do, but also giving yourself that learning time as well, maybe through lifelong learning too?
Speaker 2oh, absolutely, because if I'm exhausted then I'm not going to be of use to anyone and also, the industry is changing quite a lot, so I have to keep myself up with it because otherwise I'm just going to be obsolete. People will ask me questions that I'm not going to be able to answer anymore. So yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1I do think it's very important for me, alongside teaching, to be able to do my own practice and to keep up with my own learning journey and speaking on industry, how do you see digital art changing with the rise of AI and new technologies, and have you maybe used AI in your own practice?
Speaker 2So I'm considering to start using AI. I haven't used it yet, only briefly, just like I don't know. Here and there, I mean, come to think about it, I do use ChartGPT for generating ideas, for research. For all of that, I think things will become easier. I don't know, it's hard because it's such a big debate and it's a topic that stirs up so many emotions. And, yeah, I'm trading carefully. I do believe that things will become easier than ever I do. As an example, I'm following this page on Instagram and the artist only uses AI to create and it creates such beautiful images. So they're focusing on glitter and then little like stones and stuff. So imagine I don't know a tiger with glitter in its fur, or imagine they were doing skewers, but the meat was basically made out of gems, out of like little shiny stones.
Speaker 1Interesting Wow.
Speaker 2It is, it really is, and it's like so visually pleasing as well, and these things would have never been possible before, or if they were, it would have taken the artist I don't know months to make perhaps. So in that regard, I do think that there is some sort of use for AI. I feel like artists will transition, perhaps, from maybe creating to almost overseeing the machine plus creating, if that makes sense. Yes, yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 1So there is a little bit of, I guess you could say an argument of surrounding AI, anyway in terms of, you could say, creation of creativity.
Speaker 1Ai, anyway in terms of, you could say, creation of creativity, maybe being a little bit stifled by it. But do you think it really depends on how it's used? For example, as you've just mentioned, you know if you might use chat for idea prompts or even within art that you've seen on, you know, instagram posts, where it brings to life certain ideals or images through um ai, in a way that we ourselves may not have thought about it before, but because it's so surreal, there's that sense of not only um possibility, but also the what. If so, it's the fact that it's become more mesmerizing because it's like, as you say, like, you know, glitter on meat, for example. It's not something you'd see every day. It's very, you know, or it could be like I don't know um glitter on plants. It's very different, but I think, because it's different, it's almost like we're digesting it in a different way, would you say as well in terms of the, you know, form of media yeah, yeah, absolutely I.
Speaker 2I would say that, uh, I think it's a tool and it's only as good as the person using it. So if you only rely on that tool and you stop thinking for yourself, then yeah, absolutely, it's going to have an impact on creativity. At the same time, if you are creative in the prompts that you put into that tool to get what you want, then I can make an argument that you still have your creativity yeah, so it's, although.
Speaker 1So what you're saying is there's still that assistance. And as long as that is there, then because you're initiating, you know the prompt in itself and you're coming up with that prompt, the creative output is still there. Whether it would be different, for example, if a robot were to uh, you know, type in that prompt without human assistance, which you never know, that could be the future, we just don't know. So it could be very different. But, as you say, I think I agree. It's one of those where there definitely needs to be a balance, but also the awareness of understanding that AI can only take certain you know idea prompts or idea generation to a certain degree, and then it's up to up to us you know the person putting in the prompt to continue that, to make sure that their own creativity is still there. You know it's still visible and also it's not I don't want to say taken away from them, but it's still clear that you know their ideas and what they intended are still within that realm, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. That's exactly my argument as well.
Speaker 1And what inspired you to transition into teaching digital art?
Speaker 2I don't know if anything has inspired me per se. I've always loved teaching. I I remember even when I was quite young, I would like to explain certain concepts to my peers. Wow. So I've kind of like in hindsight obviously I wasn't aware at the time, but yeah, yeah, it's something that's always been with me and I've been doing it alongside creating ever since I graduated so.
Speaker 2I was offered a job exactly after I graduated the year after, and I loved it so much that it's been my only adult job. I've been in that job for close to 10 years now.
Speaker 1That's amazing, would you say. It also helps to keep your mind sharp because you're not only passionate about what you do, because you're learning from others, you're growing in your own self, but also you're sharpening your you say, I guess um toolbox along the way throughout oh, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2And there's so many challenges that I didn't even think about, because I work with people, so and not just people, young people. So it's quite fun because you know that they have their own way of looking at things and they challenge me and I don't know, let's assume I've done something for five or six years and then, with one cohort, someone is going to say something that's just going to blow my mind and be like so, yeah, it's definitely keeping me sharp and also I have to keep up with the latest technologies, with the latest trends and even way of speaking, because obviously, like, young people speak a bit different to our generation, my, my generation. You're still young, but yeah, and yeah, even even certain expressions and certain things is like wow, you guys are really doing it this way or saying it, or problem social media platforms, everything, yeah, everything is quite different and it keeps me, it keeps me on my toes for sure.
Speaker 1I love it that's great, thank you. And how would you say you're adapting to the different cohorts that you teach?
Speaker 2um, they have no idea how long I spend actually thinking about it. It's not just about the syllabus itself and about the information. It's about little things like, for example, one of my group is quite loud but at the same time there's quite a few of them.
Speaker 2And at the same time I've noticed that they tend to stay in exactly the same group, so they don't really talk to each other. So I'm thinking, okay, I'm going to basically give them more exercises where they have to be in a pair and I'm going to count them, or I'm going to make them arrange themselves by their heights or by the month when they're born, so that I mix them quite a lot and they end up talking to people that they wouldn't normally talk to. And they end up talking to people that they wouldn't normally talk to. Because what happens when? These the ones I'm talking about? They would have been my second years, going into the third now.
Speaker 2So what happens is that quite often you start university and you get into a group and you tend to work with that group and sometimes it's not suitable, but because that's just the way it's formed, you tend to stay with those people, even if you might not enjoy working with them, because there's not a lot of opportunity to talk to others. So I'm making them do that, basically because if I'm forcing them, then they're going to have to do it. And they resisted that first. I tried that in their basically in their second year, first term, and in the beginning they complained, but in the fourth, fifth week they already knew it was coming.
Speaker 2So they didn't have a problem anymore. They were like okay, fine, this is our fate, we have to do it whatever. Whereas, for example, with my other cohort because there's quite a few of them I find that they they're still not confident enough and they don't talk a lot. So I was again thinking what can I do with them? How can I? Okay, I'm gonna put them in pairs, because I know if you put people, for example, in groups of threes, it's much easier for someone not to speak, but if you put them in pairs, they have to speak. So I started doing that. Then I started making them speak in front of everyone. They still blew my mind because at some point, uh, I was like okay, you guys have to talk to each other, you have to be a team. We, we are talking to each other. It's just that we're doing it on discord oh exactly.
Speaker 2I did wonder if it's the pandemic as well, because obviously they would have been quite young and quite developing in the midst of the pandemic yes so I was wondering is this why they prefer online tools? Because that's what they're used to?
Speaker 1and a different mode of communication. In terms of you know, during that time I guess I think it was it was easier to communicate online because it was adapted that way right. So now that's almost carried over and it's hard to maybe switch that to real life, in a sense to like in real time.
Speaker 1So I think they're probably still not only learning but adapting and I think, also adapting, I think, coming out of our comfort zones.
Speaker 1That can be very tricky and hard and it's something that you know someone on the outside might say. The outside might say, oh, it's easy, you know, you just need to push yourself more. But I would probably disagree with that because I think it's also about comfortability is so important in terms of understanding our own selves, but also others around us, and to make sure that we give ourselves enough time to, you know, grow and to become confident without feeling pressured, and pressure is something you know, today's society it's very well, it's around us all the time, you know. So it's getting that move, you know. Touching back on balance, I think it's important to see understanding how we can adapt, but also giving ourselves that time to say, you know, we do need a little bit of a push, but also adapting our own way and learning about what stepping out of our comfort zone looks like for our own selves instead of, maybe, what society expects it to look like for us, in a way yeah, yeah, I agree with that.
Speaker 2I agree with that and I will say that I always get feedback from them so I do something. There's something called the stop, start, continue feedback method and it's one of my favorite ones. So basically, you do like an anonymous survey. Okay, it's usually on a google doc or a padlet. Padlet is like a tool that allows you to, allows people to post and comment stuff uh, and it's basically exactly as he says stop so whatever they want you to stop doing I don't know stop, stop teaching adobe photoshop beginners okay stop doing blah blah, start, start doing something.
Speaker 1So start I don't know, start bringing sweets to lessons, okay, and then continue, which is basically something that you are already doing and that they enjoy that you do ah, so it's like breaking down the process, reframing, but also maybe breaking it down for them so that they can maybe, like, see it as more milestones, so like a step by step process, without it being like right step one, step two, step three, step four and more, like you'll do this, then you'll go to this and then you go to this. This is what it means, this is what it means for you and this is what it means for others means. This is what it means like for you and this is what it means like for others, so they can understand more of the I'm trying to think here the value that it gives, or the um, tangible value that it gives to them that's more of the reflecting side of it.
Speaker 2So this method is more for myself personally to get feedback from them okay so that I know what's what every cohort wants, so that I know what every cohort wants. So that I know who my students are and what works best for them.
Speaker 1So that they feel heard.
Speaker 2Yeah, exactly, nice.
Speaker 1Do you think that also helps as well with idea generation? In terms of, if you're tailoring it in this way and you're welcoming feedback, you know exactly, maybe areas to focus a bit more on but also to pinpoint, but you're tailoring it and you're tailoring it on the go rather than you know creating and going right. We're only going to do it this set way, right.
Speaker 2Yeah, absolutely, and I think that's how it should be done, because you can have your plans in your head, but once you actually meet the people that you're teaching, it's absolutely different and plans can be unpredictable and people can be, wow, I've never heard of that method before.
Career Advice for Creatives
Speaker 1So that's really interesting and also a great way, as you say, like for your own self, but also for a way to reflect, even on for someone. You know, if you're doing like your own projects and you're managing your own projects, how to reflect on that, how to think. You know, like, what am I, what have I started with? Uh, what can I maybe refresh, how can I stop with something but also restart it at a later point, and things like that. But also to give not only awareness but also hindsight as well, because I think a lot of the time we can really get stuck in our own heads and we can get a bit of tunnel vision, and tunnel vision we can't really see, maybe, what's fully around us. You know how to immerse ourselves fully in everything. So by, as you say, with this method, breaking things down more, it can become more digestible for our own selves, but also, I think, we can see more clearly in the long run too as well yeah, exactly nice, thank you.
Speaker 1And the next topic we will be focusing on is around career advice. So can you tell us a little bit about some advice you may have for those who are either starting in the industry, wanting to go into a similar field as yourself, but also who may be wondering which direction they may want to go in, for example, university, college, or they may even be facing a little bit of a roadblock in terms of what they actually want to do, because I think in today's day and age there's so many options available right with what we want to do, and I think it can become overwhelming. So do you maybe have ways to kind of break things down, for it to be less overwhelming in a sense?
Speaker 2Hopefully, hopefully it will be useful. So, first of all, don't panic. I like that, just thank you. Just just like ash says, there's so many things you can choose from and it's fine if you don't know it's. It's not the end of the world. Sometimes you have to trust that life will show you what the best way to go forward is.
Speaker 2I would personally if, if you don't know what what to choose from, I would personally start with almost like a SWOT analysis uh so strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of who I am and what I enjoy doing, because the skills that you have can be applied in a multitude of fields and of industries. So I don't know. I like to speak well, I can be a teacher, I can be a public speaker, I can go into sales. There's so many options that that you can have. If you want to go into the creative field, I will say first of all, do something first, make it good later. In my experience, it's much easier to start out with an actual project in mind, ideally something that's meaningful to you. So for me, for example, one of my biggest projects, the project that has gone absolutely viral and still brings me clients to this date, 10 years later, is something that was music-based. I really enjoy music.
Speaker 2I I really enjoy music. I really enjoy electronic music. I enjoy the sounds. I enjoy making visuals that are synced to those sounds. So I don't know, something happens in the music, something happens on the screen. So I started with that in mind and that's what drove me to learn the software.
Speaker 2Okay, so rather than saying I want to learn Blender, let's say, which is a 3D software it's much easier to say I want to create I don't know my friend's face and I want to animate my friend in Blender doing something silly, because, again, it's something personal, it's something I find. You know that saying find something that you love and you're not going to have to work a day in your life.
Speaker 1Yes.
Speaker 2As cliche as it sounds, I think it's true. It's much easier when it's something meaningful to you that drives the learning forward. And, yeah, I find that if you keep at it, eventually, yeah, you will start it. Don't look good my projects didn't look good when I first started out. Don't get discouraged. Keep at it and then at some point, someone will notice you or something will happen. At least, that's that's my experience and that's the best advice I can give to someone and would you also say in that way as well?
Speaker 1because projects, can you know, it can really take a variety of shapes in terms of, as you just said, like something that may start out as a project and you may not maybe feel it so much at the start, but if you were to like revisit it, like four or five years later, you may get a different surge of energy. You could say, start it again, and it could really evolve into something bigger and also with more of your own experiences reflected into it, so, in a way, become better as well.
Speaker 2Oh, absolutely, and I believe it becomes better. Sorry, I took a post because there was some ambulance or something. So yeah, I find that it becomes better just through sheer time, because you've grown so much as an artist and you've learned so much that for sure, in five years time you will do that project a million times better than what you did it before and can you share with our listeners some advice that you've received from your mentors that has really stuck with you and also is maybe reflected in you know your own career, but also the work that you do as well as an artist?
Speaker 2Interesting. Hmm, I don't remember something exactly the way it was said. To be fair, I remember little moments and little snippets rather than particular advice that I received. It was more of like questions that made me think about something, or you know, kind of like what is life? Why are we here? Why are we creating? Is there any meaning? Was is there any meaning? Is there anything that we can do to, I don't know, um change our human condition? I guess?
Speaker 1would you say that helped shape your perspective in the moment and also helped with future endeavors that you did as well?
Speaker 2yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely nice.
NFTs and Digital Ownership
Speaker 1And before we wrap up, what are your thoughts on NFTs, digital ownership and the monetization of arts? Quite a heavy loaded question fun times.
Speaker 2Yeah, so I'll start with the last part of your question the monetization of art. Hasn't art always been monetized? Do you know what I mean. Hasn't it been like a million pound industry? Haven't there been paintings that have sold for hundreds of millions of pounds?
Speaker 1and that was before ai.
Speaker 2Very true, yeah yeah, you know, like they've been stolen, they've been the, the art industry. It was such a massive industry in my opinion. Yeah, um, in terms of digital ownership and nfts, that's such a touchy subject. Uh, I'm gonna be controversial. I don't think nfts work. I don't think they have the potential to work. Absolutely same with digital ownership. Yeah, sounds sounds great in theory. I don't think they have the potential to work. Absolutely Same with digital ownership. Yeah, sounds great in theory. I don't think we applied it right.
Speaker 2I think it was a fad, and I think that's evidenced by the millions of pounds that people have lost, because, yeah, the whole idea was to sort of bring something new. I don't think we actually did that, to be fair.
Speaker 1Would you say as well, in this day and age where art, I think, is probably more accessible with the rise of social media and also different platforms, that ownership digital ownership as well but it's really I feel like it's almost melded into its own self in a way, because it's like you could maybe say you know what is ownership, in a sense right In today's day and age, because A it's so accessible but also art is being created at such a rapid rate in so many different, various ways that it's almost non-traditional. Now you know it doesn't have to be that an artist picks up a paintbrush and you know paints, they can create art. You know, on different platforms, different mediums, that it's not only moving at a rapid pace sorry pause, not only moving at a rapid pace, but the ownership is just it's hard to keep up with, right? So like, in a way, it's like everything is everywhere, but also ownership is for everyone in a sense.
Speaker 2In a sense yeah, absolutely. And then I think about using AI to create images of actors, for example, who does that image belong to? Is it the person whose face we're using, or is it the person who's creating it?
Speaker 1There was a lot of thought with that as well. There's a lot sorry pause. There was a lot of um, what was I going with this? There's a lot of um not thought. There was a word that I'm missing here um discussion. There we go.
Speaker 1Um, there was a lot of discussion around that in the sense of you know, especially celebrities coming out and saying, you know they weren't in this particular image or ad campaign, but their face was almost more through ai. I think it's almost it's a bit of a scary thing, a how easy that is to do, but also be that you know. Going back to ownership, you're absolutely right. It's like who actually owns that? Although it's their face, they didn't create it, but their image is still being used and that's obviously another can of worms. But it's one of those where I think you know it's an ever-growing narrative, right, but it's one of those where, because accessibility is everywhere, because accessibility, say, has probably become easier, especially with the rise of AI, that those parameters and principles are harder maybe to put into place in terms of, like, you know what is artistic license, you know what can they do with ai to a certain degree, and also images that are being used. Who has that ownership?
Speaker 2exactly, as well as when, when you train the machine to learn yes, what images are being used, who they belong to.
Speaker 1There's so many questions and where did they come from? But also, is there a way to actually see their source? Uh, the root source of sorts? Right, because someone can put in an image, but ai is not going to know where that actually came from. They're just going to know that it's been uploaded by, uploaded by that user, so they're going to use it. They're not going to push back and say I'm not going to use that image because you got it from. They're not going to know that.
Speaker 1So yes, exactly yeah maybe that needs to happen at some point. Who? That could help a lot of people in different situations. Now, before we wrap up, do you think formal art education is still necessary in the digital age?
Speaker 2So formal art education? Not necessarily Because you can go on YouTube and you can go, there are so many free resources and you can download free software and you can find out everything you want and blah, blah, blah. However, education in itself, yeah, I think it's more necessary than ever to be fair, because critical thinking seems to be going out the window. Introspection or reflection, researching, concept or ideas uh, they're still so important. I can make an argument that they're more important now than ever, and I I do believe that going through formal education like university, you can develop those much better than you would by yourself. Um, being in uni also puts you into a network of like-minded people I met.
Speaker 2For example, I met some of my best friends at uni and I'm still friends, really good friends, with lots of them 15 years later. Wow and yeah, yeah, I'm. Yeah, it's quite an achievement, to be fair, but yeah, I do believe that people should go to university for the joy of learning how to think, rather than for learning a software or for getting a job in that in that regard, I think universities are more important than ever now do you think as well, because that follows after.
Speaker 1So, like, although we may have an intention, you know, know as much as we see with everyone, like we want to, you know, support ourselves, sustain ourselves and all of that jazz.
Speaker 1But also, going into university, for example, we are honing in on our craft or what we're passionate about and what we want to do, and then after that, you know that could lead to a job, that could lead to further training or even internships, but it's one of those where, going back to, I think, balance is a great theme within this episode of making sure that we are in it for ourselves.
Speaker 1For example, you know we're passionate about what we do, but also we can see ourselves sustained in what we do, and although that may take different shades or different shapes after we finish university, you know we may go down different routes, but we can still transfer those skills that we've learned through university, the people that we've met, the conversations that we've had, and then change that into, you know, more active dialogues for the future as well. And also that sticks with us, I think, because it's not only you know what we do, but also the people we meet makes a big difference in our own lives, but also where we end up and um what we do with their advice, but the careers that we go into. You know like how much of an impression they've made on us too absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2I've been everything it's. It's almost like you're still young and you have that time to research and to find out about so many things. And, yeah, some of the things I've learned in uni they're still with me today, some of like the core of who I am and the concepts that I've had the time to to explore. And I don't think I would have done so had I not been prompted by an assignment brief or by you know something like that.
Speaker 2I don't think if, if I went straight into a job, I would have done my job and then that's it. I wouldn't have really expanded my mind.
Speaker 1And I guess as well. It's like bringing your own personality and your own self into that as well, right, Because you could obviously do like, for example, you know the job that you need to do, but if you're not bringing your own personality, in certain instances it's harder almost, um, associate what you're doing, the work for, in a sense, right. So how does that align with your own self, with your own personality? Because I think that really does make a difference in terms of, um, using our own passions for what we do, but also staying passionate, staying resilient and also continuing to learn, because I feel like we can only really continue to learn if we're really passionate about something. We can obviously learn different tools, different things, but there needs to be an element of why am I doing this? You know what is it, what is what is in it for me, but also, how can I, what can I do to? You know? Uh, what's the word? How will this help me in the future as well?
Speaker 2oh, that's so nicely said.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, I absolutely agree with that, thank you and where do you see yourself and digital art five years from now?
Speaker 2um, digital art is going to be insane again. With ai and with everything that ai brings, I think we're gonna see more and more things that we didn't think would have been possible before. On the dark side of it, we will be seeing more and more things that we don't know whether they're real or not. I already see that with myself. I'm wondering is that real?
Speaker 1no, actual fiction yes, yeah yes, the lines are blurring, yes, and what's a dream collaboration or project that you haven't tackled yet but you may like to tackle in the future, or you may already have this in the pipeline.
Speaker 2Oh, wouldn't that be great. So I would very much like to be doing visuals for festivals, music festivals. Have you seen the Sphere in las vegas?
Speaker 1I haven't.
Speaker 2No, I haven't so if you look for it, it's all. It's basically like a sphere, that a screen. That's a sphere and because of the shape it's massive. Because of its shape, it almost it. It's so immersive. It looks like everything that's going on is coming towards you or you're actually part of it. So imagine a vr headset. But you don't have a vr headset. It's around you and using it quite a lot in techno music and visuals for techno and electronic music, which is absolutely my cup of tea.
Speaker 1So, yeah, that's something I dream of doing one day creating visuals for that sphere and it sounds like as well, that really combine your like two passions of music and art together.
Speaker 2So that's really great to hear and also exciting as well yeah, it's quite exciting, I uh, yeah, that would absolutely be a dream come true thank you so much, steph, for speaking with us today on media, education, ai, digital media and ownership, plus much more.
Speaker 1It's been really great to have you on open comments and to really hear you know your career journey so far, but also how passionate you are about what you do. Education is something that's very close to my heart as well, having gone to university, but also you know learning from not only mentors but also um art educators in that space, and I think it's such a like, not only a fascinating viewpoint that you, you know, brought to the table, but also it's just been great to have this active dialogue with you on everything as well. So thank you so much and, to all of our listeners, our Open Comments community, thank you so much for tuning into this episode. We hope you enjoyed this episode as much as we have and for more episodes just like this one, please stay tuned, stay safe, happy listening, and we'll bring more episodes into the fold very soon. Thank you.
